Darkness
by xxsezaxx
Summary: Started off as a Oneshot. Rose gets sick due to missing out on a very important immunization for the dhampir race once a virus plagued the academies. Now Rose has to fight off not only a mind numbing virus, but the darkness as well. Can Dimitri save her from the shadows that refuse to let her go?
1. Chapter 1

**This was originally supposed to be a one shot, so i apologize for the short chapters. They may get longer as the plot progresses.**

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Chapter 1

We were making our way out of the church when I heard Mia's shrill of laughter come from behind me. I turned around to see what she was laughing at when I saw some ice fall from the rooftop aimed perfectly for Lissa, I pushed her out of the way and I got the full impact of the freezing water. I was drenched from head to toe and utterly pissed;

"MIA! I know you did this!" I screamed at her in fury

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She sneered, her posse laughed.

I stomped my foot in anger and started towards her when Lissa's hand reached my shoulder;

"Don't worry about it Rose, she's not worth it." Lissa said to me with her calming gaze.

I calmed down and felt nothing but bitter cold, the ice running through my clothes and drenching my bones. "Come on, you should go back to your dorm and change before you freeze to death." Lissa suggested.

I nodded and told her i would see her at dinner, i started to head for my room but as soon as Lissa's calming presence had left i still felt pent up anger. I decided to head to the gym instead and workout and then use the showers; I started with a warm up run, i knew it was foolish to be running in wet clothes but i had no time to go back to my dorm.

I ran a few laps and then decided i'd better head for a shower before dinner time, I hadn't seen Dimitri since church and i wondered what he'd been up to all day. I felt a lot better once i was under the hot water and into warm clothes that I'd fortunately left in my locker.

Once I finally arrived at dinner I found that i no longer had an appetite, which was unusual for me. The gang waved me over to their table and i gladly joined, they gave me weird looks when they noticed I didn't have a plate towering with food like i usually did.

"Whoa, Rose, no food?" Christian said surprised.

I shrugged, i just wasn't feeling hungry. In fact i was feeling pretty tired and my mind kept wondering to my warm bed.

"Yeah Rose, why haven't you got food? That's not like you." Mason said raising his eyebrows.

I shrugged again and gave them my 'not hungry' excuse, Lissa gave me a concerned look but other than that everyone went back to their conversation. I excused myself halfway through dinner, I really was tired and thought an early night's sleep would do me good.

Everyone said their goodbyes and I gladly escaped the noisy hall, as soon as i got to my room i climbed into my covers not even caring about my clothes and instantly falling asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning I accidentally slept through my alarm, I was officially busted. I was fifteen minutes late for practice and I knew Dimitri would skin me alive. No less then what must have been five minutes later I ran through the gym doors.

He was sitting in his usual spot reading his book and looked up when he heard me enter. I must've looked like a mess because he did the whole eyebrow raising thing that I wished I could do.

"You're usually pushing it for time Rose but this takes being late to a whole new level." He told me calmly.

I had a million excuses ready to shoot out, but the truth was I'd slept through my alarm. I'd had a restless sleep where darkness dreams plagued my mind. But how could I tell him I was late because I felt like shit and because I was having nightmares?

Guardians are tougher than that and so is Rose Hathaway.

"Sorry, it won't happen again." I reply.

He must've been expecting one of my snarky comebacks as he does a slight double take.

"Yes well, you'll have to make up for your laps this afternoon. For now just do your usual reps and pushups"

I nod and ease into my usual routine.

I'm used to doing my routine in silence while Dimitri reads, so today I decided to bring my music to take my mind off the nightmares and a persistent headache that I knew would stick with me all day.

With the music blaring through my ears I'd lost track of the time and if it wasn't for Dimitri yanking out my ear bud I wouldn't have noticed.

"You'll be late for breakfast if you don't hurry." Dimitri said while handing me back my earphone.

I picked up my bag and muttered a thanks. I didn't mean to seem rude, I just couldn't shake the feeling that made me feel like crap.

As it turns out I wasn't hungry much this morning either because not even a chocolate glazed doughnut could tempt me.

This also couldn't escape any of my friends notice.

"No doughnuts this morning? Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Lissa asked, concern lacing her delicate angel voice.

I simply nod and tell her that I'd eaten a whole box of doughnuts last night and felt sick.

She tsked and joked about how I skipped dinner to eat a whole box of doughnuts.

First period was with Stan, I knew this day wasn't going to be good.

I'd only closed my eyes for what felt like a couple of seconds before Stan cuts himself off mid lecture to throw an encyclopedia on my desk.

"I'm sorry Hathaway, are we keeping you awake?" Stan said with a nasty smirk.

He's always looking for some excuse to send me to detention.

But instead of doing the smart thing and replying with a "No sir, sorry sir."

I reply with;

"Sorry Stanny, I was just giving everyone a sneak preview of how your date went on Friday night."

Everyone burst into fits of laughter as his eyes twitched and his nostrils flared in rage.

A student had seen Stan leave the school on Friday night wearing some formal clothes and holding a bouquet of flowers. It was obvious where he was going, and I'd just thoroughly embarrassed him. Truth be told I wanted to use that piece of information at a better time, but the reaction I was receiving now made it worth it.

"GET OUT! I WILL NOT BE DISRESPECTED LIKE THIS IN MY CLASS!" He screamed.

I packed my bag and calmly walked out, I was too tired to draw even more attention to myself. I walked myself to Kirova's office and sat down while I waited.

After half an hour of a no-show I decided to just go back to my room until the next class started, unfortunately my path was blocked by my mentor.

I didn't have any time to run, he'd already seen me.

He gave me one look and it was enough for me to know that he was guarding in that class and that he'd witnessed a Rose that I wasn't always proud of.

"What?" I snapped.

"You're in no position to speak to a guardian like that, much less your mentor." He responded.

I crossed my arms and humphed, in all honesty I just wanted to go back to bed and sleep without worrying about nightmares or seeing Christian's penis by accident.

"Come with me." He said while walking away, not really giving me a choice I turned around and followed him.

We wound up in the gym and he unlocked one of the rooms I usually trained in with the exercise machines. He pulls up two chairs and tells me to sit, I obey.

"Wha –"I begin to say but he immediately cuts me off.

"Okay, so what's wrong?" He demands, and I can't think of a response.

I simply shake my head and he continues.

"This morning you arrive fifteen minutes late and then you're unusually quiet in training. Usually you go out of your way to make sure I don't even get passed a sentence before you start talking again. The Rose I saw in Stan's class is just a defense mechanism, so tell me what's going on." He demanded again.

My fists curled into balls of rage, how he dare demand to know. It's none of his business and he couldn't help anyway, no one can.

"You want the truth comrade? Well you can't handle the truth. In case you didn't notice, I'm not the type to go sharing my feelings with people." I say this as I pick up my bag to go but he blocks my path to the door. I don't dare look at him, one look and I'll crumble beneath the gaze of those chocolate brown eyes.

He moves out of the way and I quickly open the door to leave;

"You don't have to be alone in this Rose. Whatever it is, I, we, can help." His accent thicker than usual.

I shake off his hand from my shoulder and proceed out the door, my day has definitely not gone as planned.

That afternoon I'd contemplated not even going to training, I felt incredibly shit anyway. But I had to go, I'd already gotten in enough trouble for one day.

After a very quick and awkward training session I didn't even bother going to dinner. I collapsed on my bed and hoped that I'd be free of nightmares tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

Before I knew it my alarm was blaring in my ears I rolled over and slapped the snooze button, I groaned and pulled myself out of bed. My headache had gotten worse I and felt like I hadn't slept much at all, I pulled on some workout gear in a zombie like state and rushed to the gym with five minutes before training.

I arrived just on time and found Dimitri in his usual spot reading one of his western novels that he'd no doubt read a million times. The exchange was brief but not at all awkward and he immediately sent me to do my laps. He'd decided to join me today and I wasn't sure if he was trying to fix what had happened or if he just wanted to run laps.

I was feeling lightheaded before we started and as the number of laps went on I began to get dizzy and nauseous.

After we'd done twenty laps I could barely stand and I had to stop before I passed out, I put my hands on my knees and tried to take in deep breaths. I see in my peripheral vision that Dimitri has noticed that I've stopped and runs over, I put my hand out to stop him and I feel nausea build up in my stomach.

I run to the nearest bush and threw up whatever contents I had left in me, I feel calloused hands hold my hair back as I continue to throw up in the bushes.

When I feel the retching stop I have to take some breathes before I can stand upright.

"Are you okay?" Dimitri asks, the concern in his voice is so thick I can't take it. For the first time in my life I answer that question honestly and I shake my head from side to side as I lean on my knees for support.

"Are you okay to walk? I'll take you back to your dorm and let Ms. Kirova know you'll be out of classes." He says to me.

"You don't have to do that, really, I'll be fine." I couldn't let him see me be weak, unfortunately my body didn't want to cooperate and I staggered a bit as a wave of dizziness overtook me.

"Whoa, steady. Rose you can deny it all you want but you're sick, you can't go to classes like this." He said while holding me steady around the waist.

I nod and let him guide me to my room.

I faintly hear Dimitri saying he would tell Kirova that I was sick and that he would be back at lunchtime to check on me. I must have mumbled a reply because the next thing I knew I'm pulled into the blissful waters of sleep.

D.P.O.V

I checked the clock to see it was 5:15pm, she was late, again.

The door opened with a loud bang and a very flustered looking Rose and I raised my eyebrows.

"You're usually pushing it for time Rose but this takes being late to a whole new level." I told her.

"Sorry, it won't happen again." She replies, without even a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes well, you'll have to make up for your laps this afternoon. For now just do your usual reps and pushups" I say.

She nods and gets into her usual routine, except this time I notice she takes out her earphones and puts them in. Usually she's chatting my ear off by now, I felt a little sting of rejection that she didn't want to chat to me like she usually does.

We'd gone a little bit over our time and I look over to Rose to see if she is finishing up, I notice she is still going hard on her exercise and hasn't noticed the time.

I call her name several times and realize she can't hear me with those earphones on, so I yank them out and tell her she can go before she misses out on breakfast. She grabs her bag and I catch a brief 'thanks' being muttered on the way out.

During breakfast I go through the mornings events in my head; had I done anything wrong? Was she fighting with Lissa? I couldn't pick anything that I'd done beside be a bit of a hard ass, but I was her mentor. Everything appeared normal with Lissa, so what was it?

I checked my schedule and was happy to see that I was guarding Alto's class, which meant I could observe Rose more clearly.

I blend in to the back of the room and catch help but study her more closely as she walks to her seat and what I see deeply concerns me.

She looks tired, exhausted even. The look on her face showed lines of anxiety and stress, she wasn't wearing her usual coating of lip gloss either.

As the class dragged on I watch as Rose's attention slips and she leans her head on her arms, I chant in my head _don't fall asleep Rose._

But the next thing I know Stan's thrown a 500+ page encyclopedia onto Rose's desk and she's nearly jumped out of her seat.

"I'm sorry Hathaway, are we keeping you awake?" Stan said with a nasty smirk.

He was always looking for an excuse to give her detention, but she really shouldn't have fallen asleep. If she's smart she'll-.

My thoughts are cut off by her reply;

"Sorry Stanny, I was just giving everyone a sneak preview of how your date went on Friday night."

I barely have enough time to cover my mouth as a deep chuckle comes out, it was funny but hugely disrespectful and Stan wasn't going to like it one bit.

I watch as his face turns red with rage and his mouth opens to explode.

"GET OUT! I WILL NOT BE DISRESPECTED LIKE THIS IN MY CLASS!" He screamed.

She packs her bag calmly and walks out, I sigh and realize I'm going to have to deal with this. If only the stubborn girl would talk to me, maybe I could help.

I leave the class at my own leisure knowing fully well she won't wait at Kirova's office for long, luckily I run into her as she's leaving.

She takes one look at and I can see that she decides that I've already seen her and that it'd be pointless to run.

"What?" She snaps.

"You're in no position to speak to a guardian like that, much less your mentor." I tell her. She crosses her arms and huffs,

"Come with me."

I took her to the gym and unlocked one of the weight rooms, I figured this would be the best place for privacy without looking too suspicious.

I pull up two chairs and tell her to sit, surprisingly she does so without argument.

"Wha –"she begins to say but I cut her off.

"Okay, so what's wrong?" I demand.

She just shakes her head.

"This morning you arrive fifteen minutes late and then you're unusually quiet in training. Most of the time you go out of your way to make sure I don't even get passed a sentence before you start talking again. The Rose I saw in Stan's class is just a defense mechanism, so tell me what's going on." I demanded again.

"You want the truth comrade? Well you can't handle the truth! In case you didn't notice, I'm not the type to go sharing my feelings with people." she says as she picks up her bag to go but I block her path to the door. She doesn't look at me and I realize maybe it isn't the right time for her to tell me.

I put my hand on her shoulder as she makes her way to leave;

"You don't have to be alone in this Rose. Whatever it is, I, we, can help." She shakes off my hand and walks out of the gym.

I run my hand through my hair in frustration, why do I care so much?

Perhaps I can't handle the truth.

That afternoon when she came to training I tried to keep it professional, I knew there was no way I could get anything out of her now.

That night I barely sleep and wake up to my alarm feeling lethargic, mostly because Rose is upset and I have no idea how to fix it.

Back home if any of the girls were upset I'd just guess it was 'that time' so I'd buy them chocolate or ice cream and they'd be happy again.

Unfortunately I don't think this was a 'that time' thing and whatever is going on is a lot more serious, something that not even chocolate can fix.

She arrived on time today, but I noticed that her appearance hadn't improved. She always looked gorgeous and she still does, it's just hard not to miss the bags under her eyes.

She does her warm up stretches and automatically heads for the track, I decide to join her.

We're about 20 laps in when I notice Rose fall behind and come to a complete stop, she's leaning on her knees when I stop running and walk over to see if she's okay. I see her run into a nearby bush and throw up, I hold her hair back as she throws up. My concern is pretty high at this point.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

She shakes her head from side to side and leans on her knees for support.

"Are you okay to walk? I'll take you back to your dorm and let Ms. Kirova know you'll be out of classes." I say.

"You don't have to do that, really, I'll be fine." She obviously didn't enjoy being seen like this and he attempted to walk away, much to her dismay she staggered and would've fell if I didn't grab on to her waist.

"Whoa, steady. Rose you can deny it all you want but you're sick, you can't go to classes like this." I said while holding her steady.

She simply nods and I guide her back to her room.

As soon as we got to her room she collapsed onto her bed without even thinking of taking her shoes off, so I gently slide them off her feet.

"I'll tell Kirova that you're sick and I'll be back at lunchtime to check on you."

I got a faint reply but she was asleep before I even left the room.


End file.
